German patent document DE 43 40 568 C2 describes a method for the continuous heat treatment of steel wire, which comprises the following steps:                Rapidly heating the wire to a temperature in the austenitic range at a rate between 85° and 100° C./s;        Holding the steel wire in the austenitic range for a period of 10 to 60 s;        Quenching the steel wire to room temperature at a rate >80° C./s;        Rapidly heating to the drawing temperature at a rate of 85° to 95° C./s;        Holding at the drawing temperature for a period of 60 to 100 s;        Cooling the wire at a rate of >50° C./s common for water cooling.        
Between steps 2 and 3, the wire can be rolled at a temperature just above the Ac3 temperature, the wire being ovalized in a first pass, rolled round in the second pass, and thereafter drawn through a gauging die.
In German patent document DE 195 45 204 C1, a method is described for the manufacture of high-strength objects from a quenched and temperature steel and for using this process for the production of springs. The steel with (in weight %) 0.4 to 0.6% C, up to 1% Si, up to 1.8% Mn, 0.8 to 1.5% Cr, 0.03 to 0.10% Nb, 0.0.2% V, the remainder being iron, is to be treated as follows:                The raw material is solution annealed in the austenitic region at temperatures of 1050° to 1200° C.;        Immediately thereafter the raw material is shaped hot at a temperature above the recrystallization temperature in a first step;        Immediately thereafter the raw material is hot-formed at a temperature below the recrystallization temperature, but above the Ac3 temperature in a second step;        The rolling product is then held at a temperature above the Ac3 temperature for the performance of additional transformation and working processes, and thereafter        cooled to below the martensite temperature, whereupon        it is then tempered.        
In DE 196 37 968 C2, a method is to be found for the high-temperature thermomechanical manufacture of spring leaves for leaf springs and/or leaf spring control arms, is the method being based on a two-step thermomechanical method of manufacturing parabolic springs, which is based on the following steps:                The starting material is heated at a heating rate between 4° C./s and 30° C./s to the austenitizing temperature;        The austenitizing temperature is 1100°±100° C.,        The material is cooled from the austenitizing temperature to the temperature of the first rolling stage at a cooling rate between 10° C./s and 30° C./s.        Then, in the first rolling step, at a temperature of 1050°±100° C., with a non-constant changing of shape between 15% and 80%, it is roughed down in one or more passes.        In the second rolling step, it is finish-rolled with rolls adjustable under load, at a temperature of 880°±30° C. with a change of shape between 15% and 45% over the length of the leaf spring.        
Finally, German patent document DE 198 39 383 C2 discloses a method for the thermomechanical treatment of steel for torsionally stressed spring elements, wherein the starting material is worked at a temperature above the recrystallization temperature and then reshaped at such a temperature above the recrystallization temperature in at least two transformation steps that a dynamic and/or static recrystallization of the austenite results. The recrystallized austenite of the converted product is quenched and annealed. A silicon-chromium steel is to be used, having a carbon content of 0.35 to 0.75%, which is microalloyed with vanadium or other alloying element.
The methods to be taken from the state of the art for the thermomechanical treatment of steel are based essentially on multiple converting steps, repeated cooling and heating of the staring material being necessary in order to produce the parameters obtained later on in the end product.